Paulina Bren

Adjunct Professor of Multidisciplinary Studies and Director of Women, Feminist, and Queer Studies on the Pittsburgh Chair in the Humanities

Paulina Bren received her PhD in History from New York University, her MA in Russian and East European Studies from the Jackson School for International Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle, and her BA in the College of Letters from Wesleyan University. Her most recent book, She-Wolves: The Untold History of Women on Wall Street [W. W. Norton, 2024], called “enthralling” by Publisher’s Weekly, was the Next Big Idea Club Must-Read, The Washington Post’s, Town & Country’s and LitHub’s Most Anticipated Books for Fall 2024, and Untapped New York’s 100 Best Books about New York of all time. She-Wolves is in development with Mark Gordon Pictures. Her previous book, the highly acclaimed The Barbizon: The Hotel that Set Women Free [Simon & Schuster, 2021], was a New York Times Editor’s Choice and has been translated into Spanish, Italian, Korean, Chinese, Russian, and Hungarian. Both She-Wolves and The Barbizon are published in the U.K. by John Murray/Hachette.

Prof. Bren teaches in International Studies; Women, Feminist, and Queer Studies; and Media Studies. More information can be found at her website: paulinabren.com.

BA, Wesleyan University; MA, University of Washington-Seattle Campus; PhD, New York University
At Vassar since 2015

Contact

845-437-5317
Old Laundry Building
Box 34

Research and Academic Interests

20th Century
Gender
Cultural History
Media

Courses

INTL 106 Perspectives in International Studies
WMST 130 Introduction to Women’s Studies
MEDS 160 Approaches to Media Studies

Selected Publications

Paulina Bren is the author of the book, She-Wolves: the Untold History of Women on Wall Street.

Grants, Fellowships, Honors, Awards

Professor Bren is the author of The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free.
Paulina Bren has written a “captivating portrait” (The Wall Street Journal), both “poignant and intriguing” (The New Republic): from award-winning author Paulina Bren comes the remarkable history of New York’s most famous residential hotel and the women who stayed there, including Grace Kelly, Sylvia Plath, and Joan Didion.

Photos

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